Podcast
What Really Matters with Walter Russell Mead
Hosted by Tablet Magazine · EN
Walter Russell Mead, a historian, pundit, and popular author, is encyclopedic about politics, culture, and history. On What Really Matters, Mead and Tablet deputy editor Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what news matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now.
Check out Walter Russell Mead’s Tablet column at https://www.tabletmag.com/columns/via-meadia.
45episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
How Everyone Got Iran Wrong
Mar 2800:32:06Summary readyThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the other strait Iran is threatening to close, the Trump administration's interest in Ukrainian territorial concessions, rumors of increasing US troop deployments to the Middle East, and how the doves and the hawks both got Iran wrong.
SummaryKent, NATO, Orban, Iran
Mar 2000:34:42Summary readyThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Joe Kent's resignation, Trump's frustration with NATO's refusal to help in the Gulf, JD Vance's show of support for Viktor Orban, and the state of the war in Iran.
SummaryHow Iran Ends
Mar 1300:39:07Summary readyThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the Iran campaign's economic shocks, the upsides for Russia, US-Cuba negotiations, and the three ways the Iran war could end.
SummaryThe Winners and Losers in Iran (So Far)
Mar 600:40:09Summary readyThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Anthropic's standoff with the Pentagon, whether munitions being used in Iran are really drawing down US stockpiles in other theaters, the CIA's attempt to arm a Kurdish rebellion, the cards the Ayatollahs still have left to play, and Trump's war with the Tuckerverse.
SummaryTariffs Are Dead, Long Live Tariffs
Feb 2500:33:35Summary readyThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the drug wars in Mexico, the tides turning against Russia in Ukraine, Trump's plans to strike Iran, and the Supreme Court's ruling against his tariff regime.
SummarySaudi Arabia's Coalition Against Israel
Feb 1400:39:17Summary readyThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Russia's oil problem, Trump's war on the climate, China's arctic ambitions, and the new Saudi-led bloc against Israel.
SummaryXi, ICE, Iran, and the Tech Right
Jan 2600:40:42Summary readyThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Xi Jinping's purge of the People's Liberation Army, the ongoing showdown between ICE and Minneapolis, the death toll in Iran, and how the tech-MAGA alliance could outlast Trump.
SummaryLive From Davos 2026
Jan 2300:32:16Summary readyThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss why the mood at Davos this year went from denial to fear, why the United States has never been both so unpopular and so dominant there, and what Trump and Zelensky's speeches revealed about the state of the Western alliance.
SummaryTrump on Antisemitism, Aid to Israel, and Iran
Jan 1500:26:28Summary readyThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Netanyahu's proposal to end U.S. aid to Israel, Trump's disavowal of rightwing antisemites, his ever-changing assessment of what's happening in Iran, and what China and Russia think of his moves in Venezuela and Greenland.
SummaryVenezuela, Greenland, Iran
Jan 1000:45:26Summary readyThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the Trump administration's appetite for Greenland, the ongoing anti-regime protests in Iran, and how America's enemies will try to turn the Maduro operation into a quagmire for Washington.
Summary